Industry in transition: The defining trends of Internet 2013 (pictures)

One of the biggest changes in the past couple of decades: Internet privacy, which has undergone a dramatic transformation -- and not to the benefit of the individual.

As mobile use expands, there are now 2.4 billion Internet users around the world.

Most of the big players are companies from the U.S. Most of the users are from abroad.

Photo uploading and sharing is growing at an extraordinary clip.

When Google bought YouTube for $1.5 billion, more than a few people thought the search engine was insane to pay that high a price. Judging from these numbers, it turned out to be a wiser acquisition than the naysayers predicted at the time.

We still haven't fully gauged the impact of newer technologies on how people use video with the Internet.

At this point in Internet history, the attractiveness of sites based upon shared user feedback is beyond disputation. Just take a gander at the stats in this snapshot -- confirming what has been a years-long trend.

The social media landscape is a crowded one and getting more so all the time.

When it comes to online sharing, Americans are far behind No.1 Saudi Arabia.

When you chart out global mobile traffic as a percentage of overall Internet traffic, the trend lines underscore how rapidly this technology has transformed the industry.

While Apple continues to see growth in the smartphone market, Samsung's share increases sevenfold.

The growth of iPads has surpassed that of the iPhone by a huge margin.

In the past decade, we've watched two technology trends explode out of the gates. Now there's another one in the making and it's coming on strong.

Yes, it's funny. But laugh off this nascent trend and the last laugh may be on you.

Traditional industries are being reimagined -- and in some cases, decimated -- by the advent of the mobile Internet. Here's one that's been particularly hard hit.

And it's not just old-line operations like the U.S. Post Office that are scrambling to coexist in a new world. The same applies to old-line tech companies struggling to meet the challenge posed by iOS and Android.

Technology consumers in China are embracing the changes wrought by smartphones and the Internet at a faster clip than people in the United States.